Shoppers Take Smartphones Over Tablets for Mobile Web Transactions

Depending on what you’re selling, the smartphone may be the
mobile device better suited for the sale.

With mobile Web payments now accounting for 22% of all payment transactions, more of those transactions come from smartphones than tablets, based on a
new global study.

While smartphones accounted for 12% of total payment transactions, 10% came via tablets, according to the Adyen Global Mobile Payments Index.

The index is based on
the company’s global transaction data, which tracks mobile payments of more than 3,500 mainly multi-national businesses. Of the $14 billion in payments it tracked last year, $2.2 billion came
through mobile devices. The index does not track in-app payments.

For goods being sold via mobile, travel tops the list with gaming at the bottom. Here’s the mobile share of transactions
by industry, according to the index:

40% -- Travel

29% -- Ticketing

29% -- Retail

26% -- Digital goods

7% -- Gaming

However, the
mobile device of choice depends on the particular category of goods being sold. With the exception of retail, smartphones lead tablets for transactions in all categories.

For smartphones,
retail also is where consumers spend the most money, at least based on transaction sizes. The average transactions values by smartphone:

$89 – Retail

$77 –
Travel

$58 – Ticketing

$56 – Gaming

$24 – Digital Goods

With tablets replacing much desktop purchasing, average transactions tend
to be higher than smartphones, as might be expected. The average tablet transactions sizes:

$185 – Travel

$118 – Retail

$73 – Ticketing

$60 – Gaming

$29 – Digital goods

Europe leads the world in mobile commerce transactions, with 23% originating from a mobile device, an increase of 40% from a
year ago.

In North America, mobile accounts for 17% of all payment transactions, up 48% from a year ago. In Asia, mobile accounts for 14% of all transactions and in Latin America 7%.

Whether by smartphone or tablet, the migration to mobile grows by the day.

All the major issues relating to mobile commerce will be discussed at the MediaPost OMMA mCommerce conference in New York on Aug. 7. You can check out the agenda where you also can register to attend. Will I see you there?

Chuck—As always, great insights. We agree that smartphones are key to helping consumers elevate their knowledge and confidence in purchase decisions. Indeed, they represent a growing percentage of payment transactions, especially with the growing use of mobile wallets. Something extra to share is that we found when it comes to pre-purchase research via the smartphone, consumers searching in specific categories moved to purchase more quickly than others. For example, 67% of consumers conducting pre-purchase research via their smartphone on commodity products (office and beauty supplies, for example) made a purchase within 30 minutes or less, with toys coming in next at 59% and apparel at 53%.

Chuck Martin is editor of the IoT Daily and the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking and Mobile Shop Talk columns. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author of "Mobile Influence" and “The Third Screen.” He is working on a new book titled “The Internet of Everything” (IoE). He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.